Sunday, July 31, 2011

ABSTRACT . A new species of Impatiens L., I. oblongipetala K. M. Liu & Y. Y. Cong (Balsaminaceae), from Yunnan Province, China, is described and illustrated, including its seed and pollen micromorphologies. This species is similar to I. lecomtei Hook. f. and I. weihsiensis Y. L. Chen, but differs by the white to slightly pink lateral sepals, the white lower sepal without purple striae, and the lateral united petals with apically retuse distal lobes.

Impatiens yaoshanensis K.M. Liu & Y.Y. Cong sp. nova (Balsaminaceae) is described from northern Yunnan, China, and illustrated. It is morphologically similar to I. cyanantha, I. purpurea, I. blinii, I. pseudo-kingii, and I. loulanensis. The distinguishing characters are given in a key to the six species.

Impatiens lobulifera (Balsaminaceae), a new species from limestone areas in southwestern Guangxi Zhuangzu Autonomous Region, China, is described and illustrated. The characters of its seed micromorphology and pollen morphology under SEM are given. It is similar to I. verrucifera in having succulent stems, peduncles 4-5 mm long, tufted pedicels and connate distal lobes of lateral united petals, but differs in having ovate or ovate-orbicular leaf blades, 4-5-flowered peduncle, yellow-green flowers, outer lateral sepals ovate-orbicular, inner lateral sepals ovate-lanceolate and topped with four finger-like lobes.

A new species from Guangxi Province, Impatiens cornutisepala S. X. Yu, Y. L. Chen & H. N. Qin, is described for the Balsaminaceae in China. It is similar to I. dicentra Franchet ex Hooker f. in the 1- flowered peduncle and the lobes of the lateral united petals that are terminated by a long filamentous bristle. However, the new species differs from the latter in its narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate leaf blade, the smaller lateral sepals with entire margins and a prominent green cornute appendage dorsally, the spur of the lower sepal that is entire at the tip, and its differing leaf epidermis micromorphology. The micromorphology of seeds and pollen under SEM is presented.

Distribution and ecology.Impatiens cornutisepala is endemic to northeastern Guangxi Province, China, recorded so far only from Quanzhou County. The plants were found in a moist valley in Jiaojiang village from 1000–1300 m elevation, in association with Pilea Lindley, Elatostema J. R. Forster & G. Forster, Carex L., an unidentified bamboo species, and other grasses.

IUCN Red List category. The population covers an area of about 1000 sq.m. and includes approximately 500 to 600 individuals. According to IUCN Red List criteria (IUCN, 2001), Impatiens cornutisepala should be categorized as Critically Endangered (CR).

Phenology. The new species was observed in flower from July to October and in fruit from August to November.

Etymology. The specific epithet cornutisepala is from the Latin and refers to the lateral sepals with their green cornute appendages.

A new species of Impatiens L., I. fugongensis K. M. Liu et Y. Y. Cong, sp. nov., is described and illustrated. The species is restricted to the wet evergreen broad-leaved montane forests of Gaoligong Mountain in Northwestern Yunnan, China. Diagnostic morphological characters and seedcoat micromorphological characters that distinguish the new species from the related species, I. xanthina Comber and I. monticola Hook. f., are discussed.

Impatiens rupestris K. M. Liu & X. Z. Cai, a new species of Balsaminaceae from Hunan Province in southern China, is described and illustrated. An identification key to the new species and its relatives is provided. Impatiens rupestris differs from I. polyneura K. M. Liu in its lamina base widely cuneate or 6 rounded, the lateral veins in 11 to 16 pairs, the dorsal petal widely obovate, and the lower lobes of the lateral united petals connate into obovate lamella. It is distinct from I. obesa Hooker f. in its lamina elliptic or ovate-oblong, lateral united petals stipitate, upper corolla lobes widely obovate or suborbicular, lower corolla lobes connate into obovate lamella, and seeds with tuberculate testa.

Impatiens angulata S. X. Yu, Y. L. Chen et H. N. Qin sp. nov (Balsaminaceae), a new species from Guangxi, China, is described and illustrated. This species is close to I. hainanensis in morphological characters. Both have succulent stems, 4 lateral sepals, connected upper lobes of lateral united petals, but are distinguished by the base of stems with 6 9 ridges, leaves oblong or oblanceolate, the outer lateral sepals with 9 veins, inner lateral sepals ovate and dorsal sepal with deep bilobate spur.

Impatiens macrovexilla Y. L. Chen var. yaoshanensis S. X. Yu, Y. L. Chen & H. N. Qin, a new variety of Balsaminaceae from Guangxi, China, is described. Variety yaoshanensis differs from the typical variety by having ovate-orbicular or ovate-oblong leaves, entire lateral sepals, an obvious auricle and entire distal lobe of the alae and visibly ridged seeds. Micromorphological characters of the pollen grains and seed surface under SEM of the two varieties also support the recognition of this taxon.

Large-bodied suspension feeders (planktivores), which include the most massive animals to have ever lived, are conspicuously absent from Mesozoic marine environments. The only clear representatives of this trophic guild in the Mesozoic have been an enigmatic and apparently short-lived Jurassic group of extinct pachycormid fishes. Here, we report several new examples of these giant bony fishes from Asia, Europe, and North America. These fossils provide the first detailed anatomical information on this poorly understood clade and extend its range from the lower Middle Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous, showing that this group persisted for more than 100 million years. Modern large-bodied, planktivorous vertebrates diversified after the extinction of pachycormids at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, which is consistent with an opportunistic refilling of vacated ecospace.

• Gigantic filter-feeding fishes lived during the Mesozoic Era.

• Filter feeding didn't first emerge in whales, as had been previously suspected, but instead began with the now-extinct fishes.

• After the filter-feeding fishes died out with the dinosaurs, whales and other cetaceans filled the ecological niche.

Feb. 18, 2010 -- Above is an artist's reconstruction of the 70-million-year old giant suspension-feeding bony fish Bonnerichthys as it cruises through the seaway covering what is today Kansas.

Researchers had believed that these prehistoric bony fish only existed for a short period of time, but newly examined fossils reveal that this group actually persisted for more than 100 million years during the Mesozoic.

By reinterpreting old findings and analyzing new fossils, researchers found that the massive suspension feeders, which engulfed water with an open mouth and sieved food while water escaped through gill slits, lived from 170 to 65 million years ago.

During that time, they pioneered the unique (and highly effective) filter-feeding strategies that can still be seen in the largest marine vertebrates living today.

Large-bodied suspension feeders (planktivores), which include the most massive animals to have ever lived, are conspicuously absent from Mesozoic marine environments. The only clear representatives of this trophic guild in the Mesozoic have been an enigmatic and apparently short-lived Jurassic group of extinct pachycormid fishes. Here, we report several new examples of these giant bony fishes from Asia, Europe, and North America. These fossils provide the first detailed anatomical information on this poorly understood clade and extend its range from the lower Middle Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous, showing that this group persisted for more than 100 million years. Modern large-bodied, planktivorous vertebrates diversified after the extinction of pachycormids at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, which is consistent with an opportunistic refilling of vacated ecospace.

The Green River Formation (early Eocene, about 42–53 Ma) at and near Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming, USA, is world famous for its exquisitely preserved freshwater teleost fish in the former Fossil Lake. Nonetheless, trace fossils attributed to fish interacting with the lake bottom are apparently rare, and have not been associated directly with any fish species. Here we interpret the first known feeding and swimming trace fossil of the teleost Notogoneus osculus Cope (Teleostei: Gonorynchidae), which is also represented as a body fossil in the same stratum.

Methodology/Principal Findings

A standard description of the trace fossil, identified as Undichna cf. U. simplicatas, was augmented by high-resolution digital images and spatial and mathematical analyses, which allowed for detailed interpretations of the anatomy, swimming mode, feeding behavior, and body size of the tracemaker. Our analysis indicates that the tracemaker was about 45 cm long; used its caudal, anal, and pelvic fins (the posterior half of its body) to make the swimming traces; and used a ventrally oriented mouth to make overlapping feeding marks. We hypothesize that the tracemaker was an adult Notogoneus osculus.

Conclusions/Significance

Our results are the first to link a specific teleost tracemaker with a trace fossil from the Green River Formation, while also interpreting the size and relative age of the tracemaker. The normal feeding and swimming behaviors indicated by the trace fossil indicate temporarily oxygenated benthic conditions in the deepest part of Fossil Lake, counter to most paleoecological interpretations of this deposit. Lastly, our spatial and mathematical analyses significantly update and advance previous approaches to the study of teleost trace fossils.

The arboreal land snail of the genus Amphidromus Albers, 1850, found in Singapore is often identiﬁ ed in the literature as Amphidromus atricallosus perakensis Fulton, 1901. Studies of A. atricallosus perakensis material from various localities in Peninsular Malaysia showed that the Singapore population is distinct. Results from earlier studies on molecular phylogeny and allozyme analyses also suggest genetic discontinuity from other A. atricallosus subspecies. The Singapore population is herein described as A. atricallosus temasek, new subspecies, and can be differentiated from A. atricallosus perakensis by several morphological characters.

Opisthostoma (Opisthostoma) beeartee n. sp. is described from a limestone island of Tadan area, Pangnga Bay in the Andaman Sea, Thailand. This is the second record for the genus and the first record of the subgenus Opisthostoma for Thailand.

Tongkerd, P., Sutchart, C. and Panha, S. 2004. A New Species of Opisthostoma from Thailand (Prosobranchia: Cyclophoracea: Diplommatinidae). The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University. 4(2): 53-56: Fulltext

Two new species of Diplommatinidae (Prosobranchia: Diplommatinidae) are described from Thailand. Diplommatina inthanon n. sp. was collected from the highest peak of Thailand, Doi Inthanon at about 2,600 meters above sea level on moss colony of a walking trail. The new species has a conical-shaped, sinistral with frequent radial ribs without spiral striation. This is the second largest shell size of Thai Diplommatina after the first Diplommatina gigas Panha & Burch 2001. Diplommatina siriphumi n. sp. has a pupa-shaped, sinistral with strong radial ribs and weak spiral striation. The unique characteristic of the new species is the smooth surface with no radial rib on almost half area of the ultimate whorl.